No the spines were fine. They looked normal other than those couple of things. Well one had a bite out of his tail but I'm sure that's not WD. I should also mention the rest of the fish looked beautiful and very healthy. Really nice colour and shine and not even a little blemish anywhere. I don't suspect WD, I suspect what Harps and Monger mentioned now that I think about. Heat, mistreated, and deep hooksets. At least I hope, not that those are good but much better than WD.
Last night I visited a small stream and caught a ton of rainbows. I posted my story in the other streams thread. A couple of the fish I caught looked a bit strange. I did take pictures unfortuneately my camera fell in the water. Hopefully my card is ok after it dries out, camera is toast. If it's ok I'll post the pics. Anyway, I saw one dead fish in a very slow stagnant section. The water was quite warm. Will trout die if the water is too warm? Lack of oxygen? Secondly one of the rainbows had a red eye. Completely red. It looked like someone punched him and all the blood vessels popped. What could this be from? Any ideas? And lastly another rainbow had a large red growth on his lower jaw. It looked like a little bubble of blood. Again what would cause this? All the fish seemed spunky and healthy as they fought well, jumped, and were released very quickly with a ton of energy. These things don't appear to be affecting their live. Except the dead one. He's dead.
I use a frying pan. If they can be eaten, I fry them up. If they don't settle down I give them a wack. Oh wait, we're talking catch and release. Just kidding around. Seriously I try to do what Birchy does. Use a net but try to keep them in the water as much as possible and let them go. Or if I can get them to settle down without the net I don't even touch them, just release the hook and away they go. It's all good as long as the fish return strong and healthy, not floating belly up.
Brutal story esleech. Hopefully you'll have better response if you need it in the future. I think it's worth calling it in to a supervisor though. Maybe this guy isn't a good fit, they need to know things like that in order to help this guy out or send him packing.
That is a good idea for an article on proper handling/releasing. However this article would need to be made known as all the information in the world is useless unless you read AND apply it. People can read lots of stuff but if they don't actually apply it it's worthless. But you can only do so much. Make the information available, make it known, and lead by example. Hopefully the rest follow.
Looks like there are only minor differences according to Outcast. Basically the same boat with improved rocker and slightly relocated oars. Doesn't affect performance. The IR tracks a bit better from the improved rocker. Anyway, not a big concern for me so I went with the Discovery 8, last years model. Now the question is, do you need fins for these or are the oars enough? Please tell me I don't need fins. This sport is costing me a fortune and it never stops. Only 8 years of spending so far and I still want more. LOL!
I found some last year models of the Outcast Discovery 8. Aluminum frame, welded seams, 600/1200PVC, aluminum cooler deck, etc. Over $100 cheaper than this years model. Is there a big difference between the 2 models? The only thing I can see is the pontoons are a bit more rockered on this years model. Other than that there seems to be insiginifcant differences.
I've got a 2 for small streams, a 4 for crow, sheep, highwood, etc., a 6 for the bow, a 9 for hucking streamers and pike. Love em all. Want more. It really never ends.
Haven't been, just a reminder to be sure to get the proper licenses. I'm sure you've done this just don't want to see a fellow fisher miss something and get in trouble. Have fun! Let us know how it went.
I'll never forget the day I was floating the Bow and suddenly up came a full fledged, huge fishing boat with a 125 horse or bigger outboard on it. It was flying. There was a huge wake and we were kind of tossed around a bit. A while later he come flying back the other way. Total disregard for others and very irresponsible as well. There just isn't room for these boats on the river. I agree with kungfool, no-motors for rivers and streams and perhaps a restriction to electric on small lakes. BC has done this very well with their lakes and it works like a charm.